Is Steve Doocy A Secret Bin Laden Death Denier?

The right-wing media's campaign to attack President Obama regardless of what he does or says has never been more absurd than in the week following the successful operation to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. As Media Matters has noted, the unequivocal success of the operation has prompted such ludicrous attacks as the Washington Times editorial staff linking the operation to a photograph of rapper Jay-Z visiting the White House over a year ago. But the most extreme of these attacks has come in the form of the right-wing conspiracy theorists baselessly speculating that bin Laden is not actually dead and demanding proof that he is from the administration.

Arguably the most vocal skeptic has been 9-11 "truther" Andrew Napolitano who, on his Fox Business show Freedom Watchaskedfellowcrazyperson Michael Scheuer if he "believe[s]" that bin Laden is "dead, or do you want some more evidence," and speculated that the government might not be "telling us the truth or pulling a fast one to save Obama's lousy presidency."In similar vein, Washington Timesopinion page editor Emily Miller tweeted "no photo of the body. That's what we need for proof."

Largely, however, the more mainstream outlets of the right-wing media have avoided tipping their hand in accusing Obama of deception regarding bin Laden's death. Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy, however, seems to be having a hard time keeping his anti-Obama based skepticism in check. While his co-hosts have, surprisingly, been engaging in fairly reasonable coverage of the successful operation, Doocy has let a few lines slip. For example, on the May 4th edition, Doocy said of the potential release of photographs of bin Laden's burial, "If you don't show [bin Laden's] face, then, you know, who's to say what was in that bag?" leading co-host Gretchen Carlson to immediately state: "I believe it was him."

On May 3rd, after a guest pointed out that the body has been confirmed as bin Laden's through DNA testing, Doocy replied that skeptics won't "believe DNA" evidence, because "that's just numbers on a piece of paper." And just today, Doocy reacted to news that the Obama administration will not be releasing photographic evidence of bin Laden's death by claiming that the photograph will, eventually, be leaked, "if it exists."

Does Doocy actually believe that the administration and military are lying about bin Laden being dead? Has it really come to that?

On February 21, CNN will host a town hall on gun violence set to include a wide spectrum of people affected by the Parkland, FL, school shooting. The National Rifle Association was invited to participate and chose to send its national spokesperson, Dana Loesch, to join "students, parents and community members" at the event, breaking with its decision to not participate in a similar 2016 CNN town hall. The NRA’s decision to send Loesch, who is also a far-right conservative commentator with a long history of inflammatory rhetoric, to represent the organization in a town hall discussion about gun safety and legislation that includes survivors of a mass school shooting, clearly demonstrates the extremist, fringe views the NRA has embraced to advance its cause.